06 May 2003 07:31
No Go For Cargo: Space Shortfall Choking Airports
There has been an intense choking of cargo at the various airports in the country, particularly in the last few
months. By one reliable estimate, there has been a shortfall of 25 per cent in the cargo space available for the last
three months, and if the airlines were to accept all the offered cargo at Indira Gandhi International airport in Delhi,
there would be over 2,000 tonne backlog at any given time. Only 4-5 airlines have regular, year-round operators of
scheduled freighters out of India and some smaller operators fly charters to Dubai, Moscow but their impact is limited.
In the past, some airlines operated additional ad hoc freighters during the peak season, but this activity has been
missing this year, further exacerbated by the Iraq war. "Air India has never accorded cargo the importance that it
deserves and has therefore not been able to strengthen the air cargo industry. Consequently, other carriers have a free
run to take full advantage of the prevailing circumstances", Mr Deepak Dadlani, managing director, Skymates Pvt Ltd
told FE. One possibility to alleviate the situation is to hive off air cargo operations of Air-India as a separate
entity, upgrade major gateways of Delhi and Mumbai to international level, and develop regional hubs to promote
distribution and cargo operations in the country. In most well-developed or fast developing air cargo markets, the
national carrier plays a pivotal role in promoting and catalysing the industry as in the case of what Lufthansa, Air
France, Singapore Airlines, Emirates endeavour to do in their respective countries. At present, Air India carries just
over 10 per cent of air exports, by weight, of which about half is perishable, to the Gulf from Mumbai. By freight
value, its share is even less than 10 per cent. AI should position air cargo as one of its main activity and like most
major freight carriers in the world. The crucial step required is to increase capacity by augmenting the operation of
freighters. "We have been recommending to the ministry of civil aviation that incentives should be given to
freighter operators by offering concessional landing, parking and fuel charges", Mr Dadlani said. Major airports in
the world like Schiphol (Amsterdam), Changi (Singapore), KLIA (Kuala Lumpur), Dubai aggressively market themselves as
facilitators of international trade. The incentive suggested should therefore not be seen as a subsidy, but part of an
overall strategy to boost capacity", he added. Since enhancing freighter operations is of crucial importance, a
mandatory operation of cargo flights during the peak season while negotiating bilateral passenger operations with
foreign carriers may be considered.
[AIW [Asia Africa Intelligence Wire]] |
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